Ahoy, mateys, and welcome to the Game Buoy podcast – your twice monthly port of call for gaming news and views that maybe aren’t on your radar, but most definitely should be! On this episode, recorded Sunday, November 16, 2014, Captain Spike and First Mate Slagkick celebrate the 10th anniversary of World of Warcraft and release of its latest expansion, Warlords of Draenor, with a look back at the world’s leading MMO.

In light of the announcement of Overwatch, this great insight to Blizzard’s cancelled MMO, Titan – which originally ran on Kotaku in September – reveals that it laid the groundwork for the company’s new IP; on its own, the article is a great investigative look at the MMO that could have been.

With the release of World of Warcraft’s latest expansion, Warlords of Draenor, and the MMO’s 10th anniversary coming soon, the Podcast Pirates take a look at the history of Blizzard’s powerhouse and how the game has grown and evolved over the years. Starting with a historical look at both the Warcraft RTS franchise as well as old school MMOs such as Everquest and Ultima Online, Captain Spike lays the groundwork for the development and launch of “vanilla” WoW and shares his experiences with the game’s original iteration. Then, First Mate Slagkick joins in to discuss the game’s five expansion packs: The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm, Mists of Pandaria, and Warlords of Draenor. The Podcast Pirates discuss classes, playable races, notable additions to the game, quality of life improvements, and major story arcs along with their own personal experiences in game. Wrapping up, they look at the legacy of WoW and the Warcraft media franchise, and what makes the game still special a decade down the line.

WHAT’S UP

Captain Spike has been playing Bayonetta 2 and mobile games Ninja Village and Monster Strike while also playing World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor with First Mate Slagkick!

SOCIAL LINKS

This week, the obligatory World of Warcraft episode. Share your thoughts/experiences on the ten year anniversary of this ten year MMO titan.

EXITLUDE

– Qoopa Klub, an award-winning* Nintendo-centric LGBT podcast (*award is from their moms)